MAPLE WALK

This young school – which this year celebrates its 20th Birthday - continues to
outshine older, more established schools, while maintaining their founding
commitment to affordability.

How do they do it?

We sent our reporter to find out…
MAYBE I’M NAIVE, but I wouldn’t have guessed there was a school here. To a
casual passer-by, the maple embossed gates seem to lead to an unassuming strip,
which rolls gently away from prying eyes.

But to the lucky student – or this invited guest – rounding that corner is like turning
up the volume on your headphones, every step boosting a cacophonic symphony of
innocent exuberance.  Balls are thwacked, walls are clattered,
the odd shout piercing the disorienting blur.

However, once the senses have settled, the eyes acclimatised, it becomes apparent
that this is actually the latest performance of ‘Playtime’ by Maple Walk Preparatory
School. And it’s a thing of beauty.

At the playground’s higher level, the more considered exchanges of the school’s
elders – some having reached the giddy heights of 11 years old - are punctuated by
the delighted squeals of the younger years; the thump of football, syncopating the
rhythmic flick of skipping rope to complete the playground medley.

On the elegantly separated lower level, a soft play area with climbing frame hosts the younger years
– an age of imagined realities where astronauts, animals,
shopkeepers and sports stars test the fit of their new roles, and the physics of their
playthings.

This has created what is known locally as “The Land of Lost Toys,” a neverland over
the fence which many an exuberantly flung prop. An early lesson in consequence.
However, any item hurled towards the upper level of the playground reaches the older children,
who respectfully return the token to its young owner with a worldliness only
expressible by someone who has graduated from that same soft-play area themselves.

This link between older and younger pupils is nurtured by the school’s Buddy System
– helping lower school starters to find their feet in this new world,
while allowing older children to take their first steps in supervised responsibility.

And yet, to think, just 20 years ago, all that was here was a derelict working men’s
club, then serving only the foxes, providing them a respite from the abandoned cars.

The odd-shaped site, spread unevenly in the natural  triangle formed by three adjoining streets,
was chosen to host a bold new venture aiming to marry two seemingly opposing ideals
– high-quality education and affordability.

From humble beginnings of a dozen pupils in a single room, the not-for-profit
founders – New Model Schools – have carved out a space that now hosts 175
pupils, and 40 staff, with dozens of specialisations, after-school clubs, a wall heavy
with awards, and a bewildering array of opportunities which seem to range from
African dance to coding and robotics to singing for the Queen.

To tour the school, is to follow the footsteps of its pupils. Maple Walk’s architecture
has been designed with pupil progression in mind – siloing different year groups so
that as a child grows, new parts of the school are revealed and become accessible
to them. This elegant construct provides each child with a subtle daily reminder of
their Maple Walk journey, granting them new privileges and responsibilities as they
mature.

I can't say with confidence that I matured as I proceeded through the school, which
stretches Tardis-like, entire departments appearing unexpectedly. Just as a corridor
seems to have reached a natural conclusion, it opens up to a new revelation – a
library space of comforting colours and relaxed seating encircled by inviting
bookshelves, and crowned with a palatial guinea pig pen.

“This is a quiet space,” I’m told,“the children come here to read, to get away from
the playground, and…” my guide breaks into a huge smile, struggling to contain their
excitement, “…to see the guinea pigs.”

Right on cue, one of the cute little creatures – Biscuit I’m told – strolls calmly from its nest to
pick at a feeding bowl, carefully selecting its snack with studied nonchalance before
nibbling away, impassive to an admiring gaze. It’s hard not to smile at this hidden gem of a school.

Contact
Maple Walk School

62A Crownhill Road London NW10 4EB

Tel: 020 8963 3890
Admissions and accounts enquiries: 020 8965 7374
or admissions@maplewalkschool.co.uk

@maplewalkschool